News

Severn Trent is to begin investigative work in Ludlow this week (6 JUNE), as part of its £78m Green Recovery Bathing Rivers project.

The project, that will see 49km of river improved while creating two trial bathing quality stretches of river on the Teme and Leam, will be creating trial holes in the area to better understand the ground conditions ahead of work starting in 2023.

Severn Trent's Green Recovery programme is working towards its goal of 15km of bathing quality waters by 2025, where the company has also pledged to double the amount of bathing rivers in its region in the next 10 years.

Wilfred Denga, Project lead for Severn Trent said: “Before we can start making the improvements that will work towards bathing rivers created in Ludlow, we need to fully understand the ground conditions first. By doing this early investigative work we can really get to grips with what we’re working with, meaning when we come to begin construction properly we know what to expect and everything can start smoothly.”

Severn Trent and working partners CPC Civils will be working on Temeside, where work is expected to take three weeks to complete.

To keep teams and others safe, Temeside will be closed along the section that comes of the junction with Old Street, that runs alongside the river.The trial holes will help provide valuable insight into the ground conditions for design teams ahead of work starting later in 2023. This will involve digging various trial holes (by both hand and with an excavator) and use of specialist equipment to take geotechnical samples. 

“We’re really looking forward to working in Ludlow, and working with the community on this exciting project that will bring so many benefits to them and the environment,” adds Wilfred. “We hope the work doesn’t cause much disruption, and it will always be our priority to keep any disruption to a minimum and have everything completed as quickly as we can. 

“When we’ve finished, we’ll then return in the new year and start the bulk of the work where we’ll make improvements on our network, and create additional storage to reduce the use of overflows and do our bit to get the river to bathing quality for everyone to enjoy.”

Severn Trent’s bathing rivers project will support the company’s commitment to ensure 90% of people live within an hour’s drive of a bathing water site by 2030, that was announced as part of it’s plans to Get River Positive that was launched earlier in the year.

To find out more about Severn Trent’s plans to Get River Positive, visit stwater.co.uk/get-river-positive.